I went from Sapphire to the Golden Nugget, via Venice

Vegas hotels have everything – well if by everything you mean endless walking trying to get somewhere. This little town, and if it is a city, kindly point me to the cathedral – has freeways and condos now like there is no tomorrow. Quite different from the Vegas of 1987 when I also stayed in the Golden Nugget.

The biggest condo cost $2 billion to build and it’s unfinished. The most the receivers could get for it was $143 million which they turned down. They’re going to demolish it instead, according to my Azerbhaijani cab driver.

You used to be able to walk it. Well in Lost Wages, there is Paris, there is Venice, there is New York and the famous cathedral city of Bally’s, Treasure Island and the Mirage. The last three are important cities in their own right, even without cathedrals.

Bangalore even had a go at re-creating the London experience, but come on. Bangalore in India had a bash at pretending to be London, describing itself as the pub capital of India. Bangalore is not the pub capital of India. In Las Vegas there does not seem to be Delhi in India, nor the favelas you find in the BRIC in the wall. Odd that. The cab drivers all seem to be from Ethiopia, good Christian Copts. There is no Prester John here. Everywhere you see signs offering advice on foreclosures and bankruptcy. This city is on hold.

You want to know about Sapphire, the “gentlemens club” I ended up in last night. It was full of lovely young women, many of them in a full state of total exposure and crawling, literally crawling, over the male visitors. Don’t put your daughter on the stage Mrs Worthington. I chatted to one very beautiful young lady called E who was from Utah. Quite a few of the girls seemed to be from Utah, in some strange quirk of nature. I bought my gentlemanly companions a beer. One Corona at $11.85, two Stellas at $23.71 making a grant total of $42 for three little bottles of beer. Goodness knows what the sex costs, Mrs Worthington. To the credit of the nice fully clothed barmaid who served me, she did say sorry. But as the receipt says at the bottom, “No Refunds. All Sales Final”.

Let me tell you though, CES is busy, busy busy with delegates all running around like there is no tomorrow. I get the feeling that they want to be confident, they really want to be confident.

What’s the overall tenor of the show. Taking a straw poll of the many <s>gannets</s> journalists here, this isn’t really that much that is new, that is unless you count vendors’ use of the word “innovation” as new. Of course Ultrabooks are “new” but will many people lash out for the ones that are out there already, when Ivy Bridge based processors will be out any time real soon now?